LANSING—Sen. John Proos on Monday encouraged Southwest Michigan residents to consider helping feed area hungry families by supporting Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger (MSAH).

“Many working families struggle to put food on the table, and Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger works with donors, processors and charities to help feed those in need,” said Proos, R-St. Joseph. “As a member of the Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, which raises funds for this program, I encourage people to help support this worthy cause. Hunters can help by donating meat or entire game to participating processors, and all residents can give money that will be used to support area food banks.”

Last year, the MSAH helped facilitate the processing of more than 30,000 pounds of venison into more than 150,000 nutritious meals for needy families all across Michigan.

“I recently visited Jeff Vlasicak at Vlasicak Meat Market and spoke to him about his participation as a processor and helping feed many hungry Southwest Michigan families over the years,” Proos said. “He donated more than 800 pounds of meat in 2011 to the Cassopolis and Edwardsburg food banks, but has only received roughly 70 pounds of deer meat this year.”

According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, this year’s deer harvest is down across the state due to weather, disease and rule changes. In the southern Lower Peninsula, the decline from 2012 was about 10 percent.

“There remains a need for donations, which is why I urge residents to check out the participating processors when choosing where to bring their deer, goose, turkey or other wild game and consider donating some or all of the meat,” Proos said.

There are two ways for hunters to donate meat. If they tell their processor that they wish to donate a whole game animal to the MSAH program – there is no cost.  Hunters can also choose to “Give a Pound,” where their game is processed at their expense and the hunter tells the processor to give a pound or two of the processed meat to MSAH.

For more information about Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger, including how to contribute funds or what processors participate in the program, visit www.sportsmenagainsthunger.org.